New Delhi: Are you getting married or divorced? Well, it can affect your waistline, according to a new research.

According to researchers, who used survey data on more than 10,000 people to investigate whether marriage and divorce led to weight gains or losses, women tend to gain weight after their wedding day while men are most affected by marital breakdown.

"Divorces for men and, to some extent, marriages for women promote weight gains that may be large enough to pose a health risk," the Scotsman quoted study leader Dmitry Tumin, from Ohio State University in the US, as saying.

The likelihood of major weight gain after marriage or divorce increased most for people past the age of 30.

"For someone in their mid-20s there is not much difference in the probability of gaining weight between someone who just got married and someone who never married," said Tumin, a doctoral student in sociology.

"But later in life, there is much more of a difference," added Tumin.

"Married women often have a larger role around the house than men do, and they may have less time to exercise and stay fit than similar unmarried women," said Zhenchao Qian, professor of sociology at Ohio State University.

"On the other hand, studies show that married men get a health benefit from marriage, and they lose that benefit once they get divorced, which may lead to their weight gain," added Qian.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Las Vegas, US.